Living in pain
by Skovko
Summary: Barbara lives a life in pain with her abusive boyfriend. When he goes away on a business trip, she decides to go to a bar alone. Here she meets a man named Roman Reigns.
1. Stay still, stay silent

Barbara's tears were silently hitting the pillow. She was lying on her stomach while her boyfriend was taking her with force again. She was used to this. It was best to stay completely still and completely silent, then he would be done faster.

How had it gotten to this point? It didn't start out with abuse, violence and rape. In the beginning he had been charming and caring. She missed the warning signs although in hindsight she could see they had been there. Now it was too late.

He had pushed for her to move in with him quickly. They had only been together for two months. She didn't want to but she ended up doing it when he said he didn't believe she loved him then. She did... didn't she? She didn't know any longer if she had ever loved him or just been desperate to be in a relationship. She sure didn't love him now.

The abuse had started quickly but she had been blind to it in the beginning. He had started out dissing her friends and little by little she had cut them off one by one. She had no family to turn to. She had lost her parents when she was only 2 years old in a carcrash. She didn't remember them at all. Then he had demanded she stopped working. He said he was sure she was cheating with all her male colleagues. She had done as he demanded.

After her friends and colleagues were all gone, the verbal abuse had begun. Bitch, whore, slut, psycho... all words she would hear on a daily basis. After a while he started talking with his fists too. If she messed up the tiniest bit, he would punish her, and according to him she messed up a lot. Half the time he didn't even bother to tell her how she messed up and she had no clue why she was being punished.

Then came the rapes. When he was done shouting at her and beating her, he would force himself on her. She learned fast not to fight back, scream or even beg for him to stop. It seemed to just turn him on more and make him last longer. It was best to stay completely still and completely silent.

She heard him grunt and felt him roll down next to her.

 _"Stay still, stay silent,"_ her mind kept saying over and over.

Shortly after she heard him snoring. She wiped the tears from her face with her hand.

 _"Just get through this night and you're free for a week,"_ she thought.

He would be leaving next morning for a business trip and be gone an entire week. She loved when he went on business trips. A whole week with no abuse. It was like heaven.


	2. Going out

She looked in the mirror. Her left eye had turned black. He had gotten her good the night before. The punch had went straight in and now the eye looked like that. She started covering it with makeup as she had done so many times before.

"Yeah, you better cover that shit up. It's your own fault," she heard him say.

She turned around and saw him standing in the door. She said nothing back. He was all dressed with his suitcase in his hand.

"Well, I'm off. This house better be cleaned spotless when I return," he said and then he went away.

She heard the door slam. She went to face the mirror again.

 _"Fuck this,"_ she thought.

She turned on the water and started removing the makeup again. She didn't care who saw her this time. The would should know how he was treating her.

She went through the day doing nothing. She was tired of it all and spent the day on the couch with the tv on. She had no idea what she was actually watching. Her thoughts were somewhere else.

There wasn't much in the fridge but she needed to eat. There were eggs so she made some scrambled eggs for dinner. It was fine. She was used to eating like this.

She put her plate down on the table. She suddenly felt this urge to get out of the house. She walked to her boyfriend's office where he had a locked drawer. She had found the key months ago and had often looked in it. She knew he was hiding a lot of money in there. She found the key and unlocked it. She grabbed a bunch of money and locked the drawer again.

She went to the bedroom and looked through her close. She put on a pair of black jeans and a black top with a bit of silver sequins on it. Nothing fancy to make her stand out but just enough to make her feel a bit pretty. She left the black eye as it was. She wasn't planning on talking to anyone else but a bartender so the eye didn't matter.


	3. Meeting Roman

She sat down in the furthest corner with her drink. It was half dark down there but that pleased her. Hopefully no one would notice her then. Yes, she was out drinking but she wanted to be left alone. She just needed to get out of that house for a little while. That house that was holding so many bad memories.

"Are you alright?" A voice next to her suddenly asked.

She had been drifting off in her own misery and hadn't noticed the tall man approaching her. She looked up and met a pair of sweet eyes. There was a calm in them she hadn't seen in a man's eyes for a very long time.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she just answered.

How sweet he might look, she wasn't about to invite him to sit down.

"You don't look fine. That eye looks kind of nasty. What happened?" He asked.  
"I walked into a door," she just answered, knowing how stupid that sounded.  
"Do you walk into doors often?" He asked.  
"No, sometimes I fall down stairs too," she said with a hint of irritation in her voice.

The man sat down next to her.

"Excuse me, I didn't invite you to sit down," she said in a harsh tone.

She wanted him to go away.

"You just looked like you might need someone to talk to for a little while," he said.  
"I don't," she answered.  
"I tell you what. I sit here and we talk about anything else but that eye. Anything you want. We can talk about the weather, sports, cars, barbiedolls, whatever you're into. I'll buy you a drink and if you still don't want me here when that drink is gone, I'll leave. How does that sound?" He asked.

She nodded. He went up and bought her a drink.

"My name is Roman," he said.  
"I'm Barbara," she said.  
"Nice to meet you, Barbara. Why are you drinking all alone?" He asked.  
"I just needed to get out of my house," she answered.

She looked at him nervously, hoping that he wouldn't steer the conversation further in that direction.

"What do you do for a living?" He asked.  
"Nothing," she answered, feeling kind of dumb.

Before he could say anything about it, she quickly continued.

"What about you?" She asked.  
"I'm a professional wrestler. I wrestle with WWE. Perhaps you've heard of the company or maybe about me? Roman Reigns?" He said.  
She shook her head.  
"No, sorry, never been into wrestling," she answered.

She finished her drink.  
"Do you want me to leave or would you like another one?" He asked.  
She smiled at him.  
"Another one, thank you," she answered.  
He went and bought her another drink.

They talked about wrestling for a couple of hours. It was true that she had never been into it but she would like to know about it. Besides, it kept the conversation on him instead of her sad life and that was how she preferred it. After a couple of hours she knew all about where he was training and what time of the day he would be there.

"You can always stop by and see the place if you like. I'll give you the grand tour," he said.  
"Thanks. I might just do that one day," she said.

They broke up for the night. He called a cab for her and waited beside her for it to arrive. He didn't want her to walk home alone through the dark night. They had made plans to meet up at the bar again the next night.


	4. A week goes by fast

The next night she dressed up in a black dress. There was something about him that made her smile to herself in the mirror. Once again she dove into the locked drawer for money. She didn't care at this point.

He was already there when she arrived, waiting at the same table as last night with a drink waiting for her. He stood up and hugged her.

"Hey, nice to see you again. I wasn't sure if you'd show up or not," he said.  
"Why wouldn't I?" She asked.  
"Maybe I had scared you away with all my wrestling talk last night," he answered, making her laugh.

That week they met up every night. It didn't take more than a couple of days before she opened up to him about her abusive boyfriend. He looked at her with concern.

"You need to get away from him," he said.  
"I know that but where can I go? I got no job, no friends and no family," she said, feeling a silent tear run down her face.

He leaned in and gently wiped it away.

"Don't cry. You're too beautiful to be sharing tears over some douchebag who clearly doesn't deserve you," he said.

The last night before her boyfriend returned home, they met up again.

"Roman, I... I need to tell you something. I can't meet you anymore," she said.  
"Why not?" He asked.  
"He's coming home tomorrow so I can't leave the house anymore," she answered.

He looked sad and concerned at the same time. He reached across the table and took her hand.

"Don't do this to yourself. You deserve better. Go home and pack your stuff and hide in a hotel somewhere. I'll drive you anywhere you wanna go," he said.  
She got a bit mad.  
"Haven't you been listening? I got no one in my life and nowhere to go. How am I even gonna pay for a hotel? I don't even have a job," she said in a hard tone.  
"You got me..." He started but she cut him off.  
"No, I don't. All I got are these secret meetings in this bar at night and although I've loved every god damn evening, I still cry myself to sleep every night when I leave you here and go home. And now I can't even see you anymore," she shouted and started crying.

He went to sit next to her and took her in his arms. He didn't say anything. He was just holding her while she was sobbing into his chest. He gently stroke her hair. They sat like that for a while until she finally stopped crying. She looked at him with wet eyes.

"Thank you," she said in a quiet tone.  
"Anytime," he answered.

He wrote down his phone number and gave it to her.

"If you ever need me, day or night, you call. No matter what day it is, no matter what time it is. Even if you just wanna say hello," he said.  
"Thank you," she said and put the piece of paper in her wallet.  
It was nice to know that she had an ally in him.

That night she allowed him to walk her home. They stopped in front of her house. She wanted to invite him in but she didn't dare to.

"Thanks for everything this week. I've really enjoyed feeling normal for once," she said.  
"You're welcome. A girl like you should always be shown a good time by men," he said and winked at her.

She smiled and he leaned in and hugged her tight.

"I don't wanna let you go," he whispered in her ear.

She didn't say anything back but she was smiling.


	5. Calling Roman

She had spent the entire night cleaning the house from head to toe. It was spotless when he arrived home that morning. She was tired. She hadn't slept. He threw his suitcase on the floor in front of her.

"Wash my clothes," he said.

She did as she was told. After she had done his laundry, he demanded sex. She just took off her clothes and laid on the bed.

 _"Stay still, stay silent,"_ the words eccoed in her head like always.

He was done fast. She got up and got dressed again.

Next morning he went back to work as usual. She was thinking about Roman. She found his number in her wallet. She wasn't allowed to own a cellphone by her boyfriend. She looked out of the kitchen window. Her neighbor Alice waved at her. She waved back.

 _"Maybe..."_ She thought.

Alice was a sweet old lady that she had talked to every once in a while when her boyfriend hadn't noticed. She decided to give it a go.

She knocked on Alice's door. Alice opened shortly after.

"Hello my dear, what brings you here?" Alice asked.  
"I'm very sorry to bother you, Alice, but is there any chance I might use your phone? I dropped my cellphone this morning in the toilet by accident and now it won't work and I really need to call my uncle. He's sick and has no one to take care of him so I need to know if I can do something," Barbara said.

She hated to lie to Alice but it was better that Alice didn't know the truth about what went on in their house.

"Of course, dear. Come on in," Alice said.

Alice handed Barbara her cellphone and then guided her to another room.

"You can call in here. Just shut the door for privacy," she said and then went into the livingroom.

Barbara shut the door and dialed Roman's number. She was sweating when she heard the ringtone. She was nervous and was almost about to hang up when she heard his voice.

"Hello?" He asked.  
"Hi Roman, it's Barbara," she said.  
"Hey, how are you? Is everything alright with you?" He asked.  
"Yeah, I'm good. I just wanted to hear you voice. You did say to call anytime, right?" She answered.  
She heard him laugh.  
"Yeah, I did say that and I meant it," he said.

They talked for about 10 minutes. She told him quickly not to call back on this number, that it didn't belong to her. It was nice to hear his voice again. 10 minutes of not having to deal with the pain in her life. She was so greatful for it.

She went back and handed Alice her cellphone.

"How is your uncle, my dear?" Alice asked with concern in her voice.  
"Oh, he's luckily better so I don't need to go see him," Barbara answered.  
"That's good to hear," Alice said.  
"Thank you so much for your help, Alice," Barbara said and went home.


	6. What have you done with my money?

Two days passed and Thursday came around. She had just gotten out of the shower when he stormed into the bathroom.

"What the fuck did you do with my money?" He shouted in her face.

She got scared. She knew it was only a matter of time before he would notice the missing money in the locked drawer but she had hoped it wouldn't be this fast.

"I... I..." She stuttered.

She had no answer prepared for this. His eyes were cold and hard. He grabbed her and threw her towards the sink. Her stomach hit the sink and her face smashed into the mirror above it. She heard the mirror shatter and felt a sharp pain on her right side of the face before falling to the floor. He grabbed her by the hair and started dragging her out of the bathroom while calling her all the worst names he could think of. The pain was unbearable and she struggled to make him let go of her hair.

He didn't let go until he had dragged her all the way to the bedroom. He kicked her three times in the back. She cried and screamed. Then he grabbed her hair again and forced her to her knees. He was holding her there with one hand while opening his pants with the other. He pulled them a bit down and then forced her head towards his dick.

"Suck it, you slut!" He said in the coldest voice.

She did as he demanded. She didn't dare to do anything else. With tears and blood running down her face, she sucked him till he came in her mouth. She felt like gagging. He pushed her down to the floor and left the room. She heard the frontdoor slam as he went off to work.

She stayed on the floor for a while and then slowly got up. Her stomach, back and face were hurting. She slowly walked to the bathroom, each step causing her pain. Only the lower part of the mirror had been shattered. The top part was still there on the wall. She felt like it was laughing at her. She looked into it and saw herself. She looked like a mess. She started to clean her face. Luckily it wasn't as bad as it could have been but she still didn't look good. She had a long cut from the right corner of her mouth and down her chin. A few smaller cuts on the cheek as well. Her stomach and back were hurting bad from being pushed into the sink and kicked in the back but she couldn't worry about that now.

She slowly went back to the bedroom. She grabbed whatever clothes was nearest. A pair of grey jeans, a pink t-shirt and a black hoodie. She didn't think about putting on any underwear. It seemed too difficult and she just wanted to get out of the house fast. She pulled up the hoodie as she left the house, slowly making her way down the street, each step causing her a lot of pain.


	7. Waiting for him

She sat on the bench outside the building with the hoodie still up. She didn't dare to go inside. She knew no one in there. She was waiting for Roman to show up. This was where he trained and he normally came by at 10 AM. He had told her that. She was there at 9.30. She just sat on the bench and waited, looking down at her feet.

She heard feet approaching and looked up a bit. There he was but he wasn't alone. He walked with a couple of other guys. Clearly wrestlers by the size of them.

 _"Oh shit,"_ she thought.

It wasn't supposed to be like that. No one else was supposed to see her like this. She bowed her head again and hoped they would all pass her without noticing.

"Barbara?" She heard his voice ask.  
No reason to hide now.  
"Yeah..." She said quietly without looking at him.  
"Go inside, guys. I'll be there soon," he said.

She heard the door open and close. He went in front of her and sat down on his knees so he could look up at her under the hoodie.

"Oh my god, what happened?" He asked shocked.  
"He... ehm... he found out I had been taking his money last week when we met up all those times," she said.  
"Oh honey," he said and put his arm around her to hug her.

She cried out in pain as his hands touched her back. He pulled away fast and sat up on the bench.

"Let me see that," he said.  
"No... please... it's nothing," she tried saying.

His voice got a bit more firm as he repeated himself.

"Let me see that, Barbara," he said.

She didn't say or do anything. He lifted up her shirt slowly and looked at her back.

"Oh my god, what the fuck did he do to you?" He asked shocked.  
She didn't know how her back looked but she could imagine.  
"That's not all," she said and leaned back to show him her stomach.  
She looked down at herself and saw how blue it was from the impact of the sink.  
"Holy shit," was all he muttered.

She heard the door open.

"Roman, are you coming?" A voice asked.

She stood up.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come," she said.

She started walking slowly but the pain was so strong. He gently grabbed her arm.

"No, wait," he said, then turned his focus to the man in the door. "I'm not coming in today. Please tell the others."  
"Alright," the man said.

She heard the door close again. She looked at him with begging eyes.

"Please, take me away from here. Anywhere you want," she cried.  
"Of course, let's go," he said and gently led her to his car.

She got in and he started driving to his house.

"Take off your shirt and let me look at those marks again," he said once they were inside.  
"I'm not wearing a bra," she said, looking a bit nervous.  
"Just cover your breats with your shirt. I promise I won't look at them. I see a lot of wounds and bruises in my line of work and I need to see if you need a doctor," he said.

She turned her back to him and removed her hoodie and t-shirt. She held the t-shirt up to cover herself. He went and examined her back closely.

"Turn around," he said.

She turned around slowly and he looked at her stomach.

"What on earth did he do to you, sweetheart?" He asked.

She couldn't take it anymore. She fell to her knees while sobbing, still trying to cover herself with the shirt but it was hard. He sat down next to her. He took the shirt and gently pulled it over her head again. He reached his arms around her and she leaned herself into his chest and started telling him about that morning.

After gaining control of herself again, they had moved to the couch. It wasn't comfortable to sit in any position for her but she tried not to complain. He had made cappuccino for her and they were just talking. A couple of hours went by and she started looking at the clock on the wall more and more.

"What's wrong?" He asked.  
"I need to get home soon. I need to clean the bathroom before he gets home. There's broken glass on the floor," she answered.  
"Please don't go back to him. I don't want you to," he begged.  
"I have to. If I don't clean it up, he'll do way worse to me," she said and looked down ashamed.

He gently grabbed her head. She looked up into his dreamy eyes. He didn't have to speak at that moment. His eyes said it all. He leaned in and kissed her and she kissed him back. She suddenly pulled back.

"I can't do this," she said.  
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have," he said.  
"It's okay. I want to kiss you, I really do. It's just... I'm really scared right now and I need to go home and fix the house and..." She was babbling.  
He leaned in and kissed her again and she let him. She couldn't resist him.  
"Now I'll take you home. We just have to stop one place first," he said.

She waited in the car while he ran his errand. He came back and handed her a cellphone.

"Here, take this. Hide it somewhere safe in the house where he will never find it but where you can always get to it. Call me anytime you want. If you need me, I'll be there fast," he said.  
"Thank you," she said.

He started the car again and drove her home.


	8. Home again

She stood on her toes to reach up over the bathroom lamp on the wall. It hurt to stretch her body like that but she had to hide the phone somewhere. He would never look up there. She then cleaned up the glass from the floor. The mirror still looked stupid missing half of it but there was nothing she could do about it.

He came home whistling as if nothing had happened that morning. He just looked at her with cold eyes.

"You look like shit," he said.

Then he went into his office. Shortly after he called her name. She slowly went into the office. He leaned up against the table, looking at her with those cold eyes she had grown to hate.

"So, I was thinking... since you've been stealing my money, you need to pay me back somehow," he said.

She didn't answer. She knew better than to start questioning him in a situation like this.

"Like the whore you are, you're gonna pay me back with that disgusting body of yours, starting now," he said.

Her body hurt all over from the attack earlier and she started crying.

"Come here!" he demanded.

She went over to him, still crying.

"You're a filthy whore," he said in the meanest tone and slapped her across the face.

He then forced her upper body down on the table. He tore her pants off, opened his own pants and started raping her.

 _"Stay still, stay silent..."_


	9. Coming to her rescue

Three days went by. Her body felt better. It wasn't completely healed yet but she could move around again without feeling too much pain. It was Sunday so he didn't have to work. She hated Sundays. He was home all day long, tormenting her.

"Barbara, get the fuck in here!" He suddenly shouted from the kitchen.

His tone... she could hear something was wrong. She had done something wrong. What had she done? She went nervously into the kitchen. Her wallet was open on the table and he was holding a piece of paper in his hands. Roman's phone number. She instantly got scared.

"Whose number is this?" He asked in an evil tone.  
"It's our neighbour Alice's number. She gave it to me because she wants me to water her plants when she goes away on holiday," she tried to lie her way out of it.

She knew it wouldn't work but she had to try.

"I looked it up online. The number belongs to a Roman Reigns. Who is he?" He asked, still sounding evil.  
"I... I don't know. Maybe Alice's nephew or brother?" She still tried to hold on to the lie.

He charged at her and slammed her full force into the wall. The back of her head hit it and it hurt like hell. He put his hand to her throat.

"Who is he?" He screamed.  
"He's nobody," she cried.

His fist hit her full force in the face.

"Who the fuck is he?" He screamed.  
"I don't know," she sobbed.

His fist came down several times. She lied on the floor trying to protect her face and body but it was useless. He stopped hitting her. She looked up and saw him go for the kitchen drawer with the knifes. She knew instantly that she had to get up and away if she wanted to live.

"You know, it's all your fault," he said with his back still turned at her.

She gathered all her strength and got up. She slowly backed out of the door. He turned around and faced her while holding a kitchen knife in his hand.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.

She turned around and ran as fast as she could. He chased her. She slammed the bathroom door and locked it.

"Open the fucking door, bitch!" He screamed from the other side.

She reached up and found the cellphone. He started kicking down the door.

"I'll fucking kill you!" He screamed.

No time to make a phone call now. She opened the window and climbed out of it. She ran to the neighbor Alice's house and hit in her yard. She dialed Roman's number.

"Come on, come on, pick up, please," she muttered to herself.  
"Barbara?" She heard his voice in the other end.  
"Please help me," she said in a low tone.  
"What's wrong?" He asked in a concerned voice.  
"He's trying to kill me," she cried.

She heard a loud crack from her house and then he stuck his head out the bathroom window.

"Where the fuck are you, bitch? I'll fucking kill you!" He screamed.

She didn't say anything. She was too scared. She was too close to the window. He was screaming so loud that Roman could hear it in the other end.

"I'm coming. I'll be right there. Stay on the phone with me," she heard him say.

She could hear him run to his car and start it up before his voice came back on the phone.

"I'm right here, sweetheart. I'm coming as fast as I can," he said.  
She still didn't say anything.  
"Can you hear me? Are you still there?" He yelled.  
"Yes. Please, don't make me talk. He'll hear me," she whispered.  
"I'm almost there," he said.

She heard the frontdoor of her house being slammed opened. She peeked out from her hiding place and saw him standing there. He didn't have the knife in his hand any longer. Amazing how he could be that psychotic and still think so rational not to bring out a knife where the neighbours would see him.

"Where are you?" He called out in a teasing voice.

He slowly started to walk out, his eyes scanning the surroundings. Suddenly he locked eyes with her.

"Fuck," she muttered and dove down in her hiding place again, hoping that he hadn't seen her.

No such luck. Suddenly he was there next to her.

"Time to go home," he said and grabbed her hair to pull her up.

Normally she wouldn't have said or done anything but just follow him blindly but not this time.

"No!" She shouted and pushed him.

That made him lose his temper. He slapped her across the face.

"You little cunt! You're coming home with me now!" He sneered.

He grabbed her by the hair again and started dragging her towards their home, now suddenly not caring about the neighbours anymore. She was screaming and fighting. He kicked and hit her several times.

"Let her go!" Roman's voice towered over them both.

Her boyfriend let go off her hair and turned around to face the voice. She looked up and saw Roman running full speed towards them. He slammed his fist into her boyfriend's face as hard as possible. He went down immetiately. Roman jumped down on him and hit him several times.

"Not so fun to be at the recieving end, huh? If you ever touch her again or even just look at her, I'll come back and finish the job!" He yelled.

He threw a last punch that knocked her boyfriend out cold. He then got up and went to check on her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.  
"Yeah... I'll live," she answered.  
"Let's go gather your stuff quickly before he wakes up," he said.

This time she wasn't about to argue. She had had enough. They went into the house together. She grabbed a couple of large bags and threw all her clothes into them. He carried them out to his car and they drove away together.

Back in his house he dropped the bags on the floor. He looked at her. She was beaten up pretty bad.

"May I help you clean up?" He asked.

She nodded. He led her to the bathroom and undressed her. She was nervous and felt kind of exposed standing there in front of him only in her underwear but he was a gentleman and didn't try to touch her. He cleaned her up and examined her bruises.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.  
"I'm hurt but it's okay. Nothing feels broken. I'll get through it," she answered.

He leaned in and kissed her gently. This time she didn't stop him. He took her hand and led her into the bedroom. They both laid down on the bed. He gently pulled her close. He was just holding her and kissing her for a long time. He was afraid to hurt her if he touched her.

"I'll never let you go," he said.

She felt safe and happy. She unhooked her bra and took it off. He looked at her.

"Are you sure? We can wait till you have healed," he said.  
"It's okay. I want to," she said and smiled.

He got up and took off his shirt and pants. He gently pushed her down on her back and took off her panties. He took his time pleasuring her. He was very gentle and tried his best not to make her feel any pain. He finally stood up and removed his boxers. This was the first time she saw him naked. He was beautiful. She reached out her hand to him.

"Come here," she said.

He went over and laid on top of her.

"Are you okay? Are you sure about this?" He asked, looking at her a bit concerned.  
"Yes," she answered.

He pushed his dick into her and started moving his hips. He was gentle all the way through and she came several times before he finally let go and came himself.

That night was just the first of many nights where she would cuddle up in his strong arms, falling asleep feeling completely safe and loved.


End file.
